1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projector type vehicle headlamp, a reflector of the projector type vehicle headlamp, and a computer program for designing the reflector.
2) Description of the Related Art
This type of projector type vehicle headlamp and a design method is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. P2003-132714A.
The projector type vehicle headlamp includes a projection lens 5, a reflecting mirror 3 having the first focal position F1 and the second focal position F2, a light source 2 whose light emitting section is located at the first focal position F1, and a shading member 4 whose upper edge is located near the second focal position F2. When the light source 2 is turned on, light from a light emitting section in the light source 2 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 3. The reflected light passes through the shading member 4 and irradiated forwards from the projection lens 5. The irradiated light illuminates the road surface, people on the road (pedestrians), and objects (a vehicle in front, oncoming vehicles, traffic signs, and buildings) by a predetermined light distribution pattern. The right and left ends of the light distribution pattern are to illuminate the traveling direction at the time of cornering (when a vehicle turns at a curve, an intersection, or a corner).
The design method of the projector type vehicle headlamp is for setting a position of the shading member 4 and the light source 2 so that the lighting efficiency of luminous flux becomes the best, with respect to the setting of the vertical width of the lighting fixture.
The examples of these types of projector type vehicle headlamps include a projector type two-light vehicle headlamp, a projector type four-light vehicle headlamp, and a projector type fog lamp.
However, since the projector type vehicle headlamp and the design method are for setting the position of the shading member 4 and the light source 2 so that the lighting efficiency of the luminous flux becomes the best, with respect to the setting of the vertical width of the lighting fixture, improvement of the visibility in the traveling direction at the time of cornering is not taken into consideration. Hence, there is a problem in improving the visibility in the traveling direction at the time of cornering.